Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker: member of the French Resistance, spy during WWII, artist's muse, Civil Rights Activist, Entertainer, Dancer, Singer and mother of the 'Rainbow Tribe'. 

All my life, I have maintained that the people of the world

can learn to live together in peace

if they are not brought up in prejudice. 

Josephine Baker

Josephine Bake is an amazing woman, so much more than the dancer who wowed Paris in the 20's and preformed in a banana skirt in Paris, which is the image that many get when they hear her name.

Josephine Baker was famous and adored in Paris during the 20's where she 'charleston'ed her way into the hearts of France, but that is just a part of her life story. Born into a poor neighborhood of St. Louis, she started working at 8 years old to help support her mother and her family.  She was in and out of schooling, learning more on the street.  

When Josephine was 13 years old age married William Wells, which made Josephine his financial responsibility, not her mother's. But that marriage didn't even last a year.  Josephine taught herself to sing and dance as a way to earn money and soon moved to New York to pursue a career in entertainment.  She made herself known not only with her dancing, but she also had a good comical delivery.  From New York she moved her act to Paris where she became a star.

Getty image

When World War II broke out, Josephine signed up to help her adopted country, France. First she worked with the Red Cross.  But where she did significant work was as a member of the French Resistance.  Because of her fame she traveled all around Europe and Northern Africa to entertain and she was even allowed into enemy territories where she would gather information undetected and then report back to the Allies.  She also would delivered secret messages which she would hide within her piles of sheet music.  After the war was over, France awarded Baker both the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance, two of France’s highest military honors.

With the war behind her she turned her attentions to racism, especially in her native land, the USA.  She was appalled that when she was in the US, she was made to enter hotels through the back doors and wasn't even allowed to stay in other hotels because of her skin color. This was especially upsetting since she was welcomed into most any establishment, everywhere else in the world.  

She started to protest by not preforming at segregated venues and continued to fight racism until her death.  She even stood along side Martin Luther King, Jr in 1963 and spoke during the March on Washington.

Not only did Josephine Baker speak out against racism, but she wanted to demonstrate to the world that all races and all types of people could live together, given the chance. So, beginning in 1950, she started to adopt children from around the world.  She ended up adopting 12 and she called her family the 'Rainbow Tribe'.

There are so many facets to this woman's life that I highly recommend you follow the links below so that you can meet the woman beyond the banana skirt. VF

Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri. Carrie McDonald and Eddie Carson, Josephine's parents, had a song-and-dance act, playing wherever they could get work. When Josephine was about a year old they began to carry her onstage occasionally during their finale. She was further exposed to show business at an early age because her childhood neighborhood was home to many vaudeville theaters that doubled as movie houses. These venues included the Jazzland, Booker T. Washington, and Comet Theatres. (wikipedia)

In 1925, at the peak of France’s obsession with American jazz and all things exotic, Baker traveled to Paris to perform in La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She made an immediate impression on French audiences when, with dance partner Joe Alex, she performed the Danse Sauvage, in which she wore only a feather skirt.www.biography.com

American entertainer Josephine Baker (1906-1936)
often performed onstage in Paris
nightclubs with pet cheetah Chiquita.
Chiquita wore a diamond collar.
Sometimes, during a performance,
Chiquita would decide to jump off the stage
and  into the orchestra pit, causing quite a ruckus.
 ca. 1931. Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum.

Legend of XX century Josephine Baker – the black pearl of “Roaring Twenties” – era, so vividly represented in the novel by Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby”. French-American dancer, singer and actress, Josephine Baker made a brilliant career, and was the star of the Parisian cabaret. Noteworthy, the audience for the first time saw Charleston in her performance. Josephine, called Black Venus, visited poet Baudelaire in his dreams. And according to Ernest Hemingway, she was the most amazing woman he ever knew. Indeed, Josephine inspired sculptors, painters, poets and architects. Interestingly, Adolf Loos dedicated to her “House of Josephine Baker”, Alexander Calder – his wire sculptures, Gertrude Stein wrote a poem in prose, and Paul Colin was the author of many of her portraits, lithographs and posters. Meanwhile, Josephine claimed that Picasso drew her portraits many times (work not preserved). But in the famous series of Matisse “The Creole Dancer” and “Jazz” influence and spirit of Josephine is easily recognizable.

viola.bz

Matisse, The Creole Dancer, 1950

Comparing Josephine Baker to a beautiful Egyptian queen, artist Pablo Picassodubbed her “the Nefertiti of Now.” She posed for him in all her glory: “tall, coffee skin, ebony eyes, legs of paradise, a smile to end all smiles.” 

lisawallerrogers.com

When World War II rocked her adopted France, Baker didn't simply move to a more peaceful country. Instead, she stuck around and did her part for the war effort. Since she had initially publicly supported Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia, the Axis powers mistakenly thought she was "one of them," and Baker took full advantage of this misconception.

In fact, her fame made her the perfect spy. When Baker would travel Europe while touring, she obviously had to carry large quantities of sheet music with her. What customs officials never realized, though, was that a lot of this music actually had secret messages written on it in invisible ink. Fawning immigration officials never thought to take too close a look at the diva's luggage, so she could sneak all sorts of things in and out of countries. On some occasions, Baker would smuggle secret photos of German military installations out of enemy territory by pinning them to her underwear.

This invaluable intelligence work eventually helped Baker rise to the rank of lieutenant in the Free French Air Force, and when the war was over she received both the Croix de Guerre (a first for an American woman) and the Medal of the Resistance in 1946.

In 1947, she married French orchestra leader Jo Bouillon, and beginning in 1950 began to adopt babies from around the world. She adopted 12 children in all, creating what she referred to as her “rainbow tribe” and her “experiment in brotherhood.” She often invited people to the estate to see these children, to demonstrate that people of different races could in fact live together harmoniously.

Baker’s adopted children, from Finland, Japan, France, Belgium, Venezuela. During their school-age years, the 10 boys and two girls grew up in public. Just by existing as a multiracial, multinational family, they demonstrated Baker’s belief in the possibility of equality.  www.slate.com

During the 1950s, Baker frequently returned to the United States to lend her support to the Civil Rights Movement, participating in demonstrations and boycotting segregated clubs and concert venues. In 1963, Baker participated, alongside Martin Luther King Jr., in the March on Washington, and was among the many notable speakers that day. In honor of her efforts, the NAACP eventually named May 20th “Josephine Baker Day.”

Links for Josephine Baker:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker

http://www.biography.com/people/josephine-baker-9195959

http://shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/b/baker/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/23148/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-josephine-baker

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2014/04/josephine_baker_s_rainbow_tribe_before_madonna_and_angelina_jolie_the_expat.html

Why it is important to share women's stories ...

With the recent shift in our country's leadership, the women's movement has become louder and more active, which is paramount as the present administration is NO friend of women! In fact the idea that our country elected a chauvinistic, misogynistic, racist, sexist, egomaniac as leader, should put all women on high alert. His campaign alone set Women's Rights back decades, but his election has made Women's Rights an endangered species. Now more than ever, women's accomplishments and milestones need to be taught, celebrated and highlighted. And women and girls need to be supported, defended and assisted in following their dreams and desires. This is why I am sharing women's stories here, on my blog, in honor of National Women History month (March). 

Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems 
without signing them, was often a woman. 

Virginia Woolf

As happens with many of my projects, posting these mini biographical posts as a way to celebrate National Women's History month, happened organically. I hadn't planned it, but suddenly it felt paramount for me to share the histories, fates and accomplishments of women, some well known and some not-so well known. I feel that it is so important for the acts and deeds of women to be  remembered and honored. And even though in recent years, there is much more written and reported about women in history, there is so much more that needs to be shared.

created by Hannah Hill
@hanecote 

I have this deep desire to spread the knowledge of women in history because I believe in the strength of teaching through modeling, through example. There is immense power in being able to see yourself in the world, to see people who are like you, in race, in gender, doing the jobs, tasks and careers that you want to do.

I believe in the truth of the above quote by ever-sage Virginia Woolf, that women often had to hide their identity. At the time, women's work was not noteworthy.

Also, I was influenced by the writings of feminist, activist and artist, Judy Chicago, who wrote many books and articles. I was greatly effected by Chicago's views in
Through The Flower: My Struggle as A Woman Artist.

"I was inspired to write it (Through The Flower) by the writer and diarist, Anais Nin, who was a mentor to me in the early seventies. My hope was that it would aid young women artists in their development and that reading about my struggles might help them avoid some of the pitfalls that were so painful to me. I also hoped to spare them the anguish of "reinventing the wheel", which my studies in women's history had taught me was done again and again by women, specifically because we have not had access to our foremothers' experience and achievements-one consequence of the fact that we still learn both history and art history from a male-centered bias with insufficient inclusion of women's achievements. "

Judy Chicago 2005

This idea rang true for me,  that we, girls and women, did not and do not have the access and the knowledge of what women have done before us, what they had achieved and where they had failed.  When I thought back on all that I had learned in elementary school, high school and college, it was definitely male-centered biased; the men had the power, made the decisions, won the battles and the women supported them, the nameless women.

"As in many other microcosms, the role of women in the art world has always suffered from the male establishment protecting its territory. Change is so slow and incremental, but often follows other changes in society at large. We are now in a moment to revel in this conversation, which is never big enough, but also bigger than it was."

the above excerpt comes from a letter from the SOHO20  to the NY Times – in response to “Female Artists Are (Finally) Getting Their Turn” written by Hilarie M. Sheets published on March 29, 2016 (click here to letter entire letter)

And the history of women is rich and lush and multi-layered because women are multi-layered, women not only bring to the table brains, ideas, strength, fearlessness and most all of the qualities that men can bring, but women also have the capability to bring life to the table, they can 'procreate'. And women should always have and should remain to have the right for each of them to personally decide if they wish to procreate or not to procreate!! 

This month I discovered this 'rad' book about women and I highly recommend it. Each woman's story is told in a page or so, piquing the reader's curiosity so that they could go and learn more about each subject.   

But for now, I am sharing these snapshots of women who are doing and have done things, interesting things, important things, quiet things, poetic things, creative things, radical things, brave things, and so many other 'things'.
I share them so that women and girls, and especially my girls, know that they can do ANYTHING that they want to do in life.

It is important that women and girls know
NOT to allow ANYONE to tell them that they can NOT do some 'thing' because they are a woman!

I believe that gender or race should not be the reason that anyone is unable to pursue a career, a dream or a life style. 

And I will end with this quote from the author of Rad Women Worldwide, Kate Schatz:

"That risk of erasure or omission was a catalyst for the book. “The field for the women we’ve heard of gets narrower and narrower the farther we go back,” Schatz says. “People can name 10 famous women from the 19th century, maybe four from previous century, and it’s even more limited in medieval times.” The book intervenes, coupling short biographies with bold paper-cut illustrations by Miriam Klein Stahl"

some of the women's who stories I have shared this month.

Today is International Women's Day

so today I am going to highlight just a few of my personal favorite international bad-ass women, (there are so so so many!!!),  with quick bio.s thanks to Wikipedia, along with a way that you can get involved with the #BeBoldForChange campaign (see bottom of post)

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin (Spanish: [anaˈis ˈnin]; born Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was an essayist and memoirist born to Cuban parents in France, where she was also raised. She spent some time in Spain and Cuba, but lived most of her life in the United States, where she became an established author. She wrote journals (which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death), novels, critical studies, essays, short stories, and erotica. A great deal of her work, including Delta of Venus and Little Birds, was published posthumously.

Annette Messager

Annette Messager (born 30 November 1943 in Berck, France) is a French visual artist. In 2005 she won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her artwork at the French Pavilion. In 2016, she won the prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award.[1] She currently lives and works in Malakoff, France.[2]

Simone de Beauvoir sitting with Jean-Paul Sartre

Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir  9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory.[3]

Marie Skłodowska Curie

Marie Skłodowska Curie 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), born Maria Salomea Skłodowska was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences, and was part of the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris, and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Panthéon in Paris. and mother to Irène Joliot-Curie, herself, an award winning scientist.

Curie mother and daughter duo.

Irène Joliot-Curie (French) 12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French scientist, the daughter of Marie Curieand Pierre Curie and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. This made the Curies the family with the most Nobel laureates to date.[1] Both children of the Joliot-Curies, Hélène and Pierre, are also esteemed scientists.[2]

https://www.malala.org

Malala Yousafzai (S.St) (Malālah Yūsafzay: Urdu: ملالہ یوسفزئی‎; Pashto: ملاله یوسفزۍ‎ 

; born 12 July 1997)is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. She is known mainly for human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Malala's advocacy has since grown into an international movement.

On the afternoon of 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was injured after a Taliban gunman attempted to assassinate her. Yousafzai remained unconscious, in critical condition at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, but later her condition improved enough for her to be sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. The assassination attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Malala. Deutsche Welle wrote in January 2013 that Malala may have become "the most famous teenager in the world."  Weeks after her assassination attempt, a group of fifty leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her. 

virginiafitzgerald 'lovely frida ...' (2017)

Frida Kahlo de Rivera,  July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954), born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón, was a Mexican painter known for her self-portraits.[2]

Kahlo's life began and ended in Mexico City, in her home, which is known as "La Casa Azul," the Blue House. Her work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.

& to finish off this post (that could truly go on forever) I want to share this inspiring and enlightening book that I picked up today!!!  Rad Women Worldwide, by Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl, authors of Rad American Women A-Z.  I could not stop reading this book once I purchased it.  I, in fact, shared some of the amazing stories with my parents and Harriet over the dinner!! A superb way to end International Women Day.

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

here is an article highlighting 17 bad-ass women!!
#InternationalWomensDay: 17 Women Who Changed the Game
Happy International Women’s Day! We round-up some of the exceptional women who serve as true inspirations in the fields of Public Service, Arts and Culture, Sciences, and Advocacy – all of whom ask us to #BeBoldforChange